Civic Ensemble's ReEntry Theatre Program Presents STREETS LIKE THIS

Civic Ensemble's ReEntry Theatre Program presents their third production with Streets Like This, a full-length play written collaboratively by Thom Dunn and AC Sidle with members of ReEntry Theatre Program. Material comes from the real lives and imaginations of participants of the program. The play was created in weekly sessions over the past year and in rehearsals this spring. Sarah K. Chalmers, who facilitates the entire program and leads the sessions, directs this production, supported by assistant director Gabriella Carr, who is also producing this show.

Streets Like This introduces audiences to sit with Deon and Dennis, two local men getting up there in age. Deon is black, Dennis is white; both are worn out from past convictions, dysfunctional institutions, and the preventable deaths of loved ones. From their stoop, watch Crystal, Abby, and Brian struggle with their diverse obstacles and mistakes while stuck in the United States' broken criminal justice system. Deon and Dennis narrate the stories of these three and other characters navigating the perils of real life and their own demons while dealing with the consequences of probation, incarceration, parole, and court-ordered rehabilitation. Streets Like This, based on true stories, travels from the Meadow Street Mobil to Social Services offices and the curb outside Day Reporting to their own workplaces and homes. The play offers no single solution but rather brings you into their worlds. As Deon says, "But maybe next time, you'll do more than turn your heads away as you toss some spare change in their cups."

Civic Ensemble launched the ReEntry Theatre Program in 2015. It is an opportunity for members of the community who have experienced incarceration - prison, jail, or drug rehabilitation - to learn storytelling skills, create theatre work, and build community together, regardless of arts experience, criminal record, or income. The group has previously presented A Setback Ain't Nothing but a Setup for a Comeback in March 2015 and Dreams and Nightmares: Do What You Always Did, Get What You Always Got in April 2016. As of October 2017, ReEntry Theatre Program meets every Monday 9am-11am at Day Reporting, to provide a consistent meeting for returning participants and give individuals sentenced to attend Day Reporting a creative outlet. It has been on hiatus during these rehearsals but will resume in June 2018.

The cast and crew consists of new and returning members of the ReEntry Theatre Program as well as actors from the community who have not experienced incarceration. AC Sidle, Abdullah Khalil Bey, Amy Heffron, Brian Briggs, Casandra Ponton, Edwin Santiago, Leroy Barrett, Melanie Uhlir, Monifa Wilford, Ralph Lawrence, Jr., Sherron Brown, and Terrell Dickson will act. A.J. Smith and Clay Hapstak will serve as backstage crew. Allegra Parker, who joined the ReEntry Theatre Program in fall 2017 but was not able to participate in the production, made a major contribution to the development of the play, as did innumerable participants from the weekly ReEntry Theatre Program sessions.

At the helm of this ensemble are stage manager Lauren Zurovitch and assistant stage manager Micah Greenleaf. The production is designed by Elizabeth Kitney (costumes & props), Lea Davis (lighting), and Rudy Gerson (sound), with scenic consultation from Norm Johnson. Off stage, support comes from Civic Ensemble staff Christine Hughes (Design Student Associate), Chanelle Ferguson (Communications Student Associate), Alicia Sanguiliano (Photographer), Charles Cadkin (Photographer & Videographer), Lucy Walker (Engagement Associate & Marketing Coordinator), and Godfrey L. Simmons, Jr. (Artistic Director), along with the generous staff, fellows, and volunteers of the Kitchen Theatre Company and Greater Ithaca Activities Center.

Three performances will be held on Saturday, May 5 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, May 6 at 4:00 pm and 7:30 pm at the Kitchen Theatre Company, 417 MLK Jr St, Ithaca. The Saturday performance will be followed by an opening night party. Tickets cost $10-20 and may be purchased in advance at streetslikethis.bpt.me or at the theatre one hour before showtime. One free performance will be held on Monday, May 7 at 7:30 pm in the gymnasium at GIAC, 301 W Court St, Ithaca. Seats may be reserved in advance with a donation of $5 or more at streetsgiac.bpt.me. All performances will be followed by talkbacks, free and open to the public.

All of the performance spaces are handicap accessible with ample free street parking nearby. Transportation assistance and carpooling coordination is available with advance notice, as is hearing assistance at the Kitchen Theatre Company. For these accommodations, please contact Lucy Walker as soon as possible at 443-834-4612 or lucy@civicensemble.org.

The ReEntry Theatre Program is currently funded by a grant from the Park Foundation and private donors. Performances of Streets Like This are sponsored by the Greater Ithaca Activities Center and Kitchen Theatre Company. The Kitchen Sink series receives support from CFCU Community Federal Credit Union, the Kitchen Theatre Company's 2017-2018 Community Engagement Sponsor. Rehearsals were sponsored with in-kind donations from Moe's Southwest Grill, Jimmy John's, and Rogan's Corner.

Civic Ensemble is a non-profit theatre company serving Ithaca and Tompkins County that produces new plays by or about women and people of color, re-imaginings of classics, and community-based plays that explore and explode the social, political, and cultural issues of our time. Through the production of plays, after-school and in-school education programs for young people, and civic engagement programs with Ithaca community members, the company works to bring audiences of different races, classes, and experiences together in a public forum on the American experiment. Civic Ensemble is committed to employing Ithaca-based theatre artists whenever possible. It is our vision that theatre be accessible to all people, onstage and off. "Theatre is Everyone's Birthright."

Photo: Sherron Brown (Brian's mom) and Ralph Lawrence, Jr. (Brian)

Photo Credit: Alicia Dianne Photography (Alicia Sanguiliano)

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